The contraception under the table cost shift

If you think the Obama administration has extricated itself fom the “pill” problem, you would be wrong. It appears there really is no alternative for religious employers that has been finalized. However the direction is clear, you are going to pay for this “free” health care twice.

Here are two alternatives under consideration (as reported by the WSJ):

Under one scenario, administrators of self-insured plans would be required to cover the costs of providing contraception and recoup the money through revenue they get from sources other than the religious employer.

Another option would involve repaying insurance companies for the contraception coverage through a broader system that will be implemented after 2014 in order to redistribute funds among insurers to compensate those who take on riskier customers.

Given virtually all large employers are self-insured, the first alternative means that administrators will recoupe the cost for contraceptive coverage from their non-religious employer clients, that means the company you work for.

Our policymakers demonstrate time after time their penchant for short term narrow thinking and apparent lack of understand of human nature or how the health care system works.

Hey guys, it’s all connected, there is no “free” but there sure are a lot of unintended consequences to what you are doing these days.